Michael Richard Gratwicke Earls-Davis (21 February 1921 − 5 April 2016) was an English cricketer who played for

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in 1947 and for

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

in 1950. He was born at

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

, London.

Biography

Educated at

Sherborne School Sherborne School is a full-boarding school for boys aged 13 to 18 located beside Sherborne Abbey in the Dorset town of Sherborne. The school has been in continuous operation on the same site for over 1,300 years. It was founded in 705 AD by Ald ...

, Earls-Davis went up to

but, like many students of his time, then joined the armed forces during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was an officer in the

Irish Guards The Irish Guards (IG) is one of the Foot guards#United Kingdom, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army and is part of the Guards Division. Together with the Royal Irish Regiment (1992), Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish infant ...

and was wounded in action in 1944. He was thus 26 by the time he started his first-class cricket career as a lower-order left-handed batsman and a right-arm fast-medium bowler at Cambridge in 1947. In his first game, against Worcestershire County Cricket Club, Worcestershire, he took five wickets in the match, including Don Kenyon twice. In the following match against Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, Gloucestershire, he took four wickets for 87 in the county's first innings, and these proved to be the best bowling figures of his career. But he did not maintain this form and dropped out of the team before the University Match, and therefore did not win a University sporting blue, Blue. In wartime non-first-class matches, Earls-Davis had played for Sussex County Cricket Club, Sussex and he appeared in a second eleven match in 1947, scoring 58 as a middle-order batsman. But by 1949 he was playing non-first-class matches for Somerset and in 1950, when the Somerset captaincy was a matter for discussion following the resignation of the 1949 captain, George Woodhouse, Earls-Davis was one of several amateurs mentioned as potentially available. In the event, he played only once, making four runs and bowling five wicket-less overs on a spinners' wicket at New Road, Worcester, Worcester.

Outside cricket

Earls-Davis returned to Sherborne School as a teacher. He married in 1958 and had two sons and a daughter. He died on 5 April 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Earls-Davis, Michael 1921 births 2016 deaths English cricketers Somerset cricketers Cambridge University cricketers Cricketers from the London Borough of Camden People from Hampstead 20th-century English sportsmen